Pleasant Ridge Collective Bargaining Case – Analytical Paper

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The case of the Pleasant Ridge Board of Education and the Pleasant Ridge Classroom Teachers Association (PRCTA) is to negotiate the teachers’ concerns and to determine the terms and conditions of the school’s teachers in the new contract. The two parties are bargaining to resolve the problems and to reach for good settlement. So, It is worthy to mention that collective bargaining outlines most of school districts’ education policy like how to allocate resources and assigning teachers to schools and classes. While bargaining is a district-level endeavor, it follows the state laws of collective bargaining. (Rotherham 2006, Collective Bargaining in Public Education)
In general, “Collective-bargaining refers to the continuous process in which representatives of the employer (government) and employees (the union) meet jointly to establish the terms and conditions of employment for workers in a bargaining unit.” (Kearney 2009, 88) Bothe parties should meet and confer in good faith.
To start the collective bargaining process, both parties shall review the previous contract to set an agenda of the important things need to be negotiated, take an initial position and set proposals. (Kearney 2009, 116) The school board of education can set its initial bargaining position by “examining grievance files, the scope and coast of benefits, wage surveys, and practices in other departments or agencies.” (Kearney 2009, 117) In case, collecting some data of the school’s financials and budget help in determining its position. About 5000 students are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in Pleasant Ridge School this year with an annual increase in enrollment by about 10% with 250 teachers available. The school budget funding comes from two res...

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...be the prevailed position under the final offer package. There wont be any permitted compromise by the arbitrator. “Under the package final offer the parties will have an incentive to settle about out of fear that even one issue position perceive to be extreme by the arbitrator will result in rejection of the entire last offer and sudden death.” (Kearney 2009, 278) In the case of the PRCTA and the school board, both sides should offer reasonable position and sensible requirements. The uncertainty of the final offer package creates awareness and fear of losing everything in the favor of the other party and encourages them to avoid unreasonable position during negotiation. For example: the PCRTA can settle offer 5% increase in salary, a reduction in maximum class size from 30 to 27 in elementary grade K-6, and the granting of tenure after the third year of teaching.

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